Growing Ficus Indoors

Posted by Jodie Shumaker on May 18th 2017

Many of the tropical species of the Ficus genus make great house plants. Ficus lyrata the Fiddle Leaf Fig is one of the most popular of house plants and once they are acclimated properly will tolerate lower light conditions. When you bring you new ficus home find a fairly bright spot for it, no full sun unless it is a little morning sun once it is acclimated to your home you can move it slowly away from the brighter light location. Unless the plant is very overgrown try not to repot it for several weeks as everything you do to a plant can be a shock to it so the less you do at one time the better. This applies to fertilizer also, do not feed your plant for several weeks, most are grown with a slow release fertilizer in their pots so they will be fine for a good while. Later if you want to fertilize with a liquid fertilizer mix it at one quarter the recommended strength on the container. When you repot your ficus use a peat based potting mix and they are not real fussy about which brand and water throughly and allow to drain do not allow your tree to stand in water. Other Ficus you may want to consider to try for houseplants are Ficus salicifolia (The Willow Leaf Ficus), Ficus Alli and the Ficus repens which are vining and climbing type Ficus.